Issues: hydrant

This is so frustrating. I do my part to follow the rules of the road, stop at red lights, and yield the way at stop signs when it's not my turn to go. But after counting 10 cars either driving or parking in protected bike lanes yesterday (6 on Lake St, 1 on Dearborn, and 3 on Kinzie), it made me want to say "F*** it." If they're not going to obey the law, why should I? When I took this photo the driver told me not to and I was like, "This is not a parking spot." She said, "I can park wherever I want." "And I can take a photo." Yes, you can park in front of a fire hydrant if you want. But you should get a ticket.

Bottom line, CDOT needs to work with the city police to enforce the law and give tickets to cars parking in the bike lane. The lanes have been there long enough for people to realize that they're not for cars.

This issue is unresolved across the City except for the fact that they have stopped plowing snow in the bike lanes, so cars aren't parking there as much. The City of Chicago could collect $150 from every driver parked in the bike lanes and get some much needed revenue (parking ticket revenue does not go to CPM; it goes to the City). On average, according to Streetline, Inc., only about 8% of parking violations result in a parking ticket. So let's improve safety and bulk up our city coffers so that we don't have to raise taxes.